


Forced Apart

by AnimeBookAddict



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, SouMako - Freeform, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-11-28 17:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11422404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeBookAddict/pseuds/AnimeBookAddict
Summary: Sousuke and Makoto are as happy together as they can be. However, when one of them gets hurt in an accident, will they be able to get through it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Soumako-fic, so please be nice. It's possible that Sousuke is a little OOC, but like I said: it's my first try. If there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review (I need it :p)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Free!, all credit goes to the owner.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

Sousuke woke up to find that the place next to him was empty, which put a small frown on his face. He had wanted to take Makoto in his arms and cuddle a little more as a way to enjoy the atmosphere that had filled the house yesterday a little longer.

Yesterday was their eighth anniversary and they had spent the day enjoying each other’s company. They woke up late, seeing as both of them had taken the day off of work, and enjoyed their lazy day. In the evening they had gone out to have dinner at their favourite restaurant and when they had come home their attention was only on each other. They had made their way up to their room and had made love to each other like it was the first time. Very slowly, intimately and passionately.

Seeing as Sousuke wanted to enjoy those feelings a little bit more, he was a bit disappointed to find the bed empty. Still half tired and his mood a little down, he put on his boxer briefs and made his way down the stairs. 

When he was about to enter the kitchen, he stopped and leant against the doorway. He saw his husband standing behind the stove making breakfast. Makoto was clad only in his boxer briefs and wore a shirt of Sousuke’s. The sight before him made Sousuke’s slightly grumpy mood vanish into thin air, so he stood there for a few moments and just looked at his husband.

Finally, he decided to enter the kitchen and made his way over to Makoto, wrapping his arms around Makoto’s middle. 

Makoto made a little jump of surprise before he gave a slight chuckle. 

“Good morning.” he said with a smile on his face as he turned around to give Sousuke a peck on the lips.

“Good morning.” was the answer he got as he turned back around to make sure that the food wouldn’t burn.

They stood there for a few moments in silence, just enjoying each other’s company. 

Suddenly Sousuke started kissing and nibbling Makoto’s neck saying, “I don’t want to go to work today. I want to stay here with you all day. Maybe we can do a repeat of yesterday.”

Chuckling, Makoto answered. “If you go to work, I’ll give you a present when you come home.”

“Mmm, what kind of present?” Sousuke asked still kissing Makoto’s neck.

“Who knows? You’ll have to go to work and wait and see to find out.” he said a little teasingly.

Sousuke let out a sigh, dropping his head in the crook between Makoto’s neck and shoulder and letting go of Makoto’s waist. 

“It better be a good present.” he said, looking a little bit like a child who was told to first make his homework before going out to play with his friends.

“It’ll be an amazing present.” Makoto said now turning around to take Sousuke, who was slightly sulking, in his arms. “Now eat and get dressed or you’re going to be late.” he said with a fond smile while their noses touched. 

When Sousuke was about to leave for work, Makoto gave him a kiss and said that he could expect his favourite meal for dinner that night, lifting a tip of the veil for that night’s gift. 

Little did they know what would happen that day to mess up the plans they had made.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2, hope you like it. I'll probably be updating this story twice a week, so look forward to it :p. If there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review (I need the feedback).
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

When Sousuke had left for work, Makoto checked if he had everything he needed to make Sousuke’s favourite dinner. He had most of the ingredients but he had to go the store for a few crucial ingredients he absolutely could not do without. He made a list, not only for the ingredients needed but also for groceries for the rest of the week.

Makoto went to the store, bought what he had to buy and made his way back home, a smile gracing his face this whole time. 

He was on his way back home when it happened.

He was at an intersection waiting for the light to turn green so he could cross the road. When the light finally turned green he crossed the road, not noticing the car that was driving far too fast. 

It happened in the blink of an eye. One moment Makoto was on his way home from grocery shopping, next he’s lying motionless on the floor, bleeding.

Sousuke and his partner Rin, who was also his best friend, had a calm day at work. That was until they got an incoming call about a hit and run at one of the busy intersections of the city. They, together with a few other police officers, made their way to where the accident had happened.

When they arrived there was only chaos. People were panicking, there were two ambulances standing ready to take the casualties to hospital and provide aid to people who had gone into shock as a result from witnessing the accident and people were crowding the place where the accident had happened. 

Sousuke, Rin and the other officers tried to calm down the crowd and make a clear path for the paramedics. They told the crowd that they had to ask them a few questions regarding the accident so they could try look for the perpetrator. 

They were just about to start their questioning when Sousuke saw the paramedics carrying the person who was hit to one of the ambulances, ready to take that person to hospital. When he took a better look, his breath got caught in his throat and all the colour drained from his face. The person they were carrying was Makoto. 

Rin, noticing something was off, asked what the matter was.

“Oi, Sousuke, you all right?”

Sousuke just remained silent, shocked. When it had all sunk in, he started running. He ran after the paramedics.

“Oi, where are you going?” Rin yelled after him.

“It’s Makoto. The person who was hit is Makoto!” he yelled back while he kept running towards the ambulance.

The paramedics had settled Makoto in the back and were about to close the doors when Sousuke stopped them.

“I’m coming with you.” He said.

“Sir, I’m afraid you can’t. Only family.” said one of the paramedics.

“I _am_ family.” he said. “I’m his husband.”

He gave the paramedic a look that said he would come with them and that there was no room for disagreement, whether they liked it or not. The paramedic nodded once, letting Sousuke in the back of the ambulance. Closing the doors they made their way to the hospital as fast as they could. 

All the way to the hospital Sousuke held onto Makoto’s hand, who lay motionless on the stretcher while the paramedic was performing first aid to stop the bleeding.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 3, hope you like it. If there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

Arriving at the hospital, the paramedics rushed Makoto inside, briefing the doctors and nurses about what had happened and what his current condition was. In all the commotion Sousuke had to let go of Makoto’s hand even though he didn’t want to. If he could he would hold Makoto’s hand all the way until they were finished examining him. 

He saw doctors push the stretcher on which Makoto lay through a set of double doors. Doors that led to the operating rooms. Rooms where no one was allowed, except for the staff. 

Sousuke was pacing back and forth in the waiting room, an anxious and heavy feeling weighing him down. After a while he stopped pacing and took a seat. He thought he should call Rin to let him know where he was. He knew that once Rin was notified of what had happened he would contact the rest of Makoto’s friends. One of those friends, and Makoto’s best friend, was Haru. Sousuke and Haru still weren’t the best of friends but they also weren’t enemies like in high school. Despite not being the best of friends and not always seeing eye to eye, there was one thing they would never fight about: Makoto’s well-being. And now that well-being was in danger.

It felt like hours, and it could have been because Sousuke hadn’t looked at the clock even once, when Rin and Haru finally arrived. Simultaneously they asked how Makoto was doing, what had happened and so on. Unfortunately Sousuke couldn’t tell them anything because he didn’t know anything himself and there had yet to come a doctor to inform him about Makoto’s condition.

Worried, Rin and Haru also took a seat. To Sousuke time seemed to stretch out like there was no end to it and at the same time it felt like every minute went by so fast. And with every minute that passed and he didn’t hear anything about Makoto, he got more worried, restless.

Finally, after what seemed hours, a doctor came into the waiting room looking for Makoto’s family. 

“The family of Tachibana Makoto?” asked the doctor who had come into the waiting room.

“Yes.” Sousuke and Haru said simultaneously while all three of them stood up from their seats. 

“How is he?” Sousuke asked, worry clear in his voice.

“To come to the point: the accident did quite a number on him.” the doctor said. “He has quite the concussion and head wound. He, also, had several internal bleedings.”

With every word that came out of the doctor’s mouth, Sousuke began looking paler and paler.

“We managed to stop the bleeding but his injuries can start bleeding any time again so we’re going to keep him in the hospital for at least a week to make sure everything is okay. We also checked if there was any damage beside the concussion, head wound and the bleedings but there was nothing else. At least for as far as we can tell right now. We still need to do a few tests to make sure.”

After the doctor was done speaking and Sousuke had let everything sunk in, he spoke.

“So, is he going to be okay?”

“That depends: for now he’s in the clear but his injuries can start bleeding again and may cause severe damage, that’s why we are going to keep him here for some time to keep an eye on him.”

Sousuke was silent for a moment, then asked, “Can I – I mean, can we go see him?”

“He’ll still be asleep because of the anaesthetics but yes, you may see him. However, only one person is allowed to go into the room. Because he needs rest we can’t allow for many people to go inside.” the doctor answered.

It was only logical for Sousuke to go to Makoto, seeing as he was married to him. However, Sousuke couldn’t help looking at Rin and Haru to make sure it was okay for him to go, still a little in shock about what had happened today and what the doctor had told him.

Both Rin and Haru nodded, though Haru hesitated for a small moment seeing as Makoto was his closest friend and as good as family, saying it was alright for him to go. Before Sousuke had the chance to go sprinting towards Makoto’s room Rin put his hand on Sousuke’s shoulder as some kind of support, saying, “Let us know how he is or if there are any changes, okay?”

Sousuke just nodded, turned around and made his way towards Makoto’s room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 4, hope you like it. If there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review (Seriously, let me know what you think).
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

When Sousuke had made his way towards Makoto’s room, he immediately went inside. The first thing he noticed was the bandage that was wrapped around his husband’s head. Seeing his husband, who was pale and wrapped up in bandages, made Sousuke’s breath catch in his throat for a moment. 

After st anding there for a few moments looking at his husband, he snapped out of it and made his way towards Makoto. He took a seat in the chair next to the bed and grabbed Makoto’s left hand in his. 

He sat there for what could have been hours, just with Makoto’s hand in his while drawing circles on his hand with his thumb. 

It seemed that, after all those hours, the anaesthetics were wearing off seeing as Makoto began to stir slightly. It took a few extra moments but, finally, Makoto opened his eyes and relief washed over Sousuke. He felt like he could breathe again.

Makoto, still a little drowsy, looked around the room. He noticed Sousuke but he also noticed that this white room he was in, was not their bedroom. 

Looking at Sousuke he asked, “Where am I?”

Sousuke squeezed his hand a little tighter and said, “We’re in the hospital.”

Hearing they were in the hospital, Makoto’s fatigue and drowsiness faded a little quicker.

“Why are we here?” he asked.

“We’re here because you were in an accident.” Sousuke said while squeezing Makoto’s hand a little tighter, a knot forming in his throat. The tears he had managed to keep at bay all day finally threatened to fall from his eyes. 

Makoto was sitting upright in the bed by now and suddenly Sousuke wrapped his arms around Makoto’s waist and buried his face in his husband’s stomach. The tears finally falling from his eyes. 

Makoto just put one arm around Sousuke while his other hand was brushing through his husband’s hair soothingly. All the while he was trying to calm him down, saying things like,”Shhh, it’s all right now.” or “I’m here, it’s okay.”

After some time Sousuke had calmed down. He untangled himself from Makoto and gave him a proper hug, though he didn’t dare give Makoto a tight squeeze in fear of hurting him or his injuries getting worse. While hugging each other Sousuke said, “I thought I had lost you. Seeing you like that my heart just stopped.”

“Shhh, it’s okay now. I’m okay now.” Makoto said while holding his husband.

After this, both of them calmed down and Sousuke told Makoto what he knew. Both about the accident and his injuries. However, he hadn’t much time to inform Makoto about his injuries or the doctor in charge came into the room to check up on Makoto.

“I see the anaesthetics finally wore off.” the doctor said, seeing Makoto awake. “How are you feeling?”

“I feel fine. A little sore but fine.” Makoto replied with a friendly smile.

The doctor nodded at this answer and proceeded with telling about his injuries. From his concussion and head wound, to his internal injuries, to the point that he would have to stay in the hospital for a while for observation. 

After finishing his explanation and checking Makoto’s vitals, the doctor left the room. Both Makoto and Sousuke were silent for a moment to let it all sink in. Even though Sousuke had already heard it once before, it still was kind of a shock.

After the moment of silence Makoto turned towards his husband with his usual smile and said, “I’ll be as fit as a fiddle in no time. I’ll be out of here before you know it.”

He always remained positive and seeing Makoto’s usual smile, the worry Sousuke had felt, lessened, if only slightly. As answer to Makoto’s smile, Sousuke gave a small smile in return and while squeezing his husband’s hand in his, he said, “Knowing you, you’re right about that.”

Makoto just gave a squeeze back to his husband while giving a small chuckle and saying, “I’m always right.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 5, hope you like it. This also means there are only two more chapters after this. Not gonna lie, I had it a little difficult when I was writing this chapter, emotionally I mean.  
> Let me know what you thought about this chapter (every comment is welcome).  
> If there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

Makoto had been in the hospital for almost a week and he seemed to do just fine. His wounds were healing and, except for the slight pain he felt at times, he felt great. Ever the positive person he was, he didn’t think about the slight pain he sometimes felt and just focused on a quick recovery so he could go home. His home with Sousuke.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen Sousuke since he was hospitalised, Sousuke came to visit him during the time he was free, which meant the time he didn’t spent at work. And though, Sousuke was there every day for quite a while, in comparison to when Makoto was home, he felt he had seen too little of Sousuke this past week. 

Sousuke also wasn’t the only one to visit Makoto. Haru was by his side the day after Makoto had woken up from his anaesthetics and refused to leave that day until visiting hours were officially over. Since then, Haru also made his daily visits to Makoto.

Of course Rin had visited, too. However, unlike Sousuke and Haru, Rin didn’t visit every day, which was understandable. 

Nagisa and Rei had called Makoto a few times to ask how he was, seeing as they lived too far away to visit him. 

It was the same with Makoto’s family. Once they heard what had happened they were worried sick. The twins, despite being grown up, had taken the news hard and were crying in such a way that they looked like they were ten years old again. Since then, he got a phone call from home every day and every day he would assure them he was doing fine and that it wouldn’t be long before he could leave the hospital. And if he was honest, he didn’t mind all the phone calls. Hearing his family every day, it felt like he was back in Iwatobi for a bit.

There wasn’t much to do while being hospitalised, so when no one was visiting him and he didn’t get any phone calls Makoto would read until someone, mostly Sousuke, would come and visit. He had almost finished the page he was on when the door to his room opened and in stepped Sousuke. Seeing his husband, Makoto immediately got a radiant smile on his face.

“Hey, sunshine.” Sousuke said, seeing Makoto’s radiant smile. He walked towards Makoto and bent down to give him a quick kiss.

“Hi.” Makoto said with that same smile, happy Sousuke was there. 

They fell into easy conversation. Sousuke asked him how he was doing and Makoto answered he felt fine and the doctors had said that he could go home in a few days. He also informed him about his daily phone call he got from his family back in Iwatobi. Makoto in his turn asked his husband about his day. Sousuke had told him that not much had happened. He spoke about Rin and his antics and about general stuff that had happened at the office. And though not much of what had happened that day was important, one thing was.

“We found the person who caused the accident.” Sousuke suddenly said.

“Oh.” Makoto said, his eyes widening a little at hearing this, not sure what to say.

“Yeah.” said Sousuke. “A man in his forties. You know I can’t give much specifics because it’s still an ongoing case but apparently he was drunk. In his drunk state he didn’t notice how fast he was driving and eventually he lost control of his steering wheel.” While saying this, Sousuke’s frown deepened by the second, giving Makoto and indication about how angry he still was about the accident. 

Makoto took one of Sousuke’s hands in his and gave it a squeeze. Sousuke looked up and saw his husband giving him a small smile.

“Everything’s fine now. You caught the person responsible for the accident, my wounds are healing just fine so I’m not in too bad a shape and I can leave the hospital in a few days. So don’t worry about it anymore, okay? I’m just fine. We’re just fine.” Makoto told his teal-eyed husband with that small smile.

Sousuke just squeezed back and said, “Yeah, you’re right.”

“I always am.” Makoto answered and Sousuke gave a chuckle in reply.

They, once again, fell into easy conversation. Just everyday things until Makoto asked his husband if he could get him something to drink.

“What do you want?” 

“Tea, please. I’m kind of tired of only drinking water.” 

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” 

Sousuke went to the cafeteria on the fifth floor to get Makoto a fresh cup of tea. He didn’t want to give his husband some tasteless tea from some vending machine somewhere in the hospital.

However, when he came back, he thought his heart had stopped working.

He was standing just in front of Makoto’s door, which was wide open, and saw doctors and nurses alike around Makoto’s bed. Sousuke looked at the monitor and saw that there was no heartbeat. After what seemed like an eternity a heartbeat was visible again on the monitor, though it was very small. However, before he could say or ask or do anything he was pushed aside as the staff passed him, pushing Makoto to the nearest operating room.

Sousuke stood there for a moment, not knowing what was happening and not knowing what to do. The next thing he knew, he was sitting in the waiting room, waiting for a doctor to come and tell him about what had happened to his husband.

Finally, a doctor came, looking for the family of Tachibana Makoto. Sousuke was on his feet in less than a second and made his way towards the doctor. 

The doctor told him that a few of Makoto’s internal wounds had opened up again and that the internal bleedings were what had caused his heart to stop. They had him undergo surgery to close the wounds and check what damage those wounds had caused. Fortunately, they were able to close all the wounds and there was no real damage done to Makoto’s body. Makoto would have to stay in the hospital for a little while longer but, if everything went according to plan, he should be fine after a couple of weeks. 

Feeling relieved, Sousuke asked if he could go see his husband. He was told Makoto would probably already be back in his room, so thanking the doctor, Sousuke made his way back to Makoto’s room.

When he saw his husband, he hurried over to his side and clasped his hand in his, squeezing it, kissing it, holding it against his cheek, just to make sure his husband was really there. All the while tears were pricking in his eyes and threatened to fall.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 6, hope you like it. Because the chapter following this one will be the last I'll try to post it a little sooner than when I normally do :)  
> Just to give you a fair warning: I cried while writing this chapter. Maybe it's just me or the music I was listening to at the time, but you have been warned in case you do let out a few tears.  
> If there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review, let me know what you think.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

It was nine days after Makoto’s heart had stopped beating and he had undergone surgery. He was feeling better, though because of the new and extra medications he was prescribed, he often slept and felt tired. When Sousuke had asked a doctor about it, he had said that it was just one of the side effects of the drugs and that after some time they would go away or would be less noticeable. Sousuke wasn’t all too happy with only such an answer but there was nothing he could do about it so he just let it be.

With Makoto having a relapse, Sousuke was more vigilant and attentive than ever. Every single moment of his free time was spent in the hospital with Makoto. The first couple of days after the relapse he had even taken time of off work so he could just stay the whole day with his husband, keeping an eye on him. 

When Makoto came to he had asked what had happened and Sousuke had told him everything. And though Makoto was a little shocked to hear he had suffered a relapse, he didn’t show it. Instead he tried to reassure Sousuke that he was fine now and that he didn’t need to worry. Needless to say that all his efforts to reassure Sousuke were for naught. On top of that the calls from his family and the visits from Haru also increased. 

It was nine days after Makoto’s heart had stopped beating and he had undergone surgery. Sousuke was sitting in a chair next to his bed, holding his hand. He had just finished a hard day at work and wanted to talk about it with his husband. 

While they were talking, Sousuke saw that Makoto was feeling tired. Trying as he might, he was struggling to keep those beautiful green eyes open. Seeing this, Sousuke gave a small chuckle.

“It’s okay, I know you’re tired. Just go to sleep.” he said softly.

“But you were telling about your day at work.” Makoto answered in a tired voice.

“Doesn’t matter. We can talk about it when you wake up. Just close your eyes and go to sleep.” he said almost in a whisper, giving Makoto a kiss on his forehead.

“Okay, talk later.” came Makoto’s slightly slurred reply. “Goodnight.” Though it was only seven pm in the evening.

“Goodnight.” Sousuke said.

As Makoto fell asleep, Sousuke watched him. He just looked at his husband while holding his hand and rubbing circles on it with his thumb. While rubbing circles on Makoto’s hand, Sousuke listened to the heartbeat on the monitor, making sure he could still hear it. Focusing on his husband’s heartbeat, Sousuke got lost in his thoughts. Thoughts about work and the different cases he was working on, thoughts about Makoto and so on. Vaguely, he registered that Makoto’s heartbeat was getting a little slower. He didn’t think too much about it, it was probably because Makoto was finally asleep. It’s only logical for one’s heartbeat to go slower when one’s asleep so Sousuke turned back to his thoughts. 

He was so absorbed in his thoughts, however, that it took him a few short moments to notice. He didn’t hear anything. He didn’t hear Makoto’s heartbeat.

In less than a second’s time he turned to look at the monitor and he was right: there was no sign of a heartbeat on the screen. He stood up from where he was sitting and pressed the red button next to Makoto’s bed. Now he needed to wait for the staff to come and while waiting he held Makoto’s hand in his and talked to him, in quite the frantic way, in hopes he could bring Makoto back like that.

“Makoto! Come on, Makoto, open your eyes! Makoto!”

He just kept repeating these phrases, hoping they would work. Finally, the doctors and nurses came into the room and the same thing happened like nine days ago: before he could give any kind of reaction Makoto was pushed away. This time around he didn’t stand there staring at nothing like last time but he called Rin. Right now, he knew he needed his best friend beside him. 

He had been in the waiting room for quite a while before Rin arrived, together with Haru, who Rin had informed about what had happened. 

They were silent, all three of them. Rin had put a hand on one of Sousuke’s shoulders, wanting to give him some sort of support but also knowing that Sousuke wasn’t the hugging type. That side of his was solely reserved for his husband. 

After some time, no one would be able to say how long they had sat there, a doctor came into the waiting room.

“The family of Tachibana Makoto?” he asked. 

This was the third time in only two weeks’ time that the same scenario had unfolded before Sousuke. 

“Yes.” he said while making his over to the doctor. “How is Makoto? Is he going to be fine?”

He was answered with a moment of silence and a grim look on the doctor’s face. Seeing the doctor’s face Sousuke felt like his heart stopped beating.

“Is my husband going to be fine?” he asked again, his voice rising a little and sounding a little panicked.

“I’m sorry.” the doctor said. 

That one sentence, those three little words caused for Sousuke’s world to collapse. Faintly, he could hear Rin and Haru’s shocked inhale of breath but he ignored that.

“What do you mean ‘I’m sorry’? Where is my husband?”

“I’m sorry but there wasn’t anything we could do. We tried our best but we couldn’t get his heart to start beating again. We’re very sorry for your loss.”

Hearing that his husband was gone, that he wouldn’t come back, something just snapped within Sousuke.

“What do you mean ‘we’re sorry for your loss’? Where is my husband? Why didn’t you do anything?!” While saying this, his voice kept rising until he was screaming and everyone was looking at them. “It’s all your fault! You couldn’t help him!” After this, he slammed his fist against the wall with all the strength he could muster at that moment. 

Rin, who was quick to react, stopped Sousuke from hitting the wall again, afraid he would hurt himself. Sousuke kept struggling against Rin’s hold and wanting to vent his anger, his sadness in one way or another, he kept yelling things like, “Give me back my husband!” and “Why couldn’t you help him?!”. However, Rin didn’t let go of him. On the contrary, he only strengthened the hold he had on his best friend, his friend who just lost his husband and didn’t know how to react. His friend who just sounded so sad, so hurt, so… _broken_.

After struggling for a while, Sousuke just dropped to his knees, all of his strength leaving him. Rin, holding Sousuke in his arms, followed him to the ground, his arms giving the only support he could at that moment. Sousuke turned in Rin’s arms to face his best friend and just clung to him while the tears kept streaming down his face.

And while Sousuke was clinging to Rin like he was the only thing keeping him in this world, Haru had collapsed on a chair. He was staring straight ahead of him without really _looking_ , tears making their way down his cheeks. The news of his childhood friend’s death being too much of a shock for him, he couldn’t even make a sound.

Rin, seeing his two best friends in such a state, tried to be a pillar they could hold on to. And though his own eyes were filled with tears and though he tried his utmost best to not let them fall, because he too had just lost one of his friends, a few still managed to escape and made their way down his face. However, he wouldn’t let Sousuke or Haru know. Now, he needed to be strong for them. He needed to be the one who kept everything together for the sake of his friends.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the 7th and final chapter, hope you like it. Again, I had it a little difficult while writing this chapter: a few tears did fall.  
> If there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review, let me know what you thought about the story.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

Time passed and things changed. The time immediately after Makoto’s death was a blur for Sousuke. That time he had been so sad, had felt such pain and had felt so alone that he couldn’t quite remember the days from the day Makoto had died until a few weeks after the funeral.

The funeral was something, for the little parts he could remember, he had hoped to never experience. Everyone had come to pay Makoto their respects and to mourn. His family, his friends, everyone was there and the amount of tears and sadness was something he hoped to never see again. 

Makoto’s parents, especially his mother, were sad. Throughout the entire ceremony she had cried and her husband let a few tears fall from his eyes even though he tried to remain strong for his family, including Sousuke, his son-in-law. The twins were devastated. Just like their mother they cried throughout the whole thing, clinging onto each other. 

And it was just the same story for his friends. Nagisa and Rei had cried while trying to support one another. Haru seemed like he was still in shock and still couldn’t believe that his best friend wouldn’t come back. He just stared at the coffin with a few tears sliding down his cheeks from time to time. Apart from the few tears, the only other sign that showed that he was upset was that he had Rin’s arm in his grasp as if it was the only thing that kept him standing. Rin, though trying to be strong, let his tears fall. This time he just couldn’t manage to keep them from falling or keep from crying out loud just like he had done in the hospital.

Then, there was Sousuke. Just like Haru he looked at the coffin. The only difference was that he didn’t cry. He was too upset, too hurt and just too sad to cry. Even though he wanted to cry and yell and do anything to try and get his husband back, he couldn’t. He had no strength left. The past few days had drained him from every drop of energy he had. So he just looked and waited, wanting all of this to be over, hoping it would turn out to be a very bad dream, a cruel nightmare. But it wasn’t. It was reality and he felt lost.

The years passed and first Sousuke wasn’t his normal self. He fell into depression. It was his shoulder all over again, only worse. He took a few days off from work only to realise that everything in the house reminded him of Makoto and how he wasn’t there anymore. Changing tactics, he went back to work and made himself so busy he was seldom at home.

He pushed his friends away, even Rin. When they would contact him to ask how he was doing or when they would ask to meet up, he always gave the same answer, “I’m busy with work. Maybe another time.” However, everyone knew that that last statement was a lie.

After months of this Rin took the matter in his own hands and dragged Sousuke away from work to just do something, anything. He started to do this more often and Sousuke, very slowly, started to lessen his workload and meet up with Rin on a regular basis.

Ever so slowly Sousuke became more and more like the person he was before Makoto had died, though he would never be exactly the same. And as the years passed he made a decision: he transferred from his job in Tokyo to the district in Iwatobi, deciding to move back there, permanently. 

In Iwatobi he visited his family-in-law more. They were there for each other when needed and he couldn’t be happier with the family he could call his own. During the years he witnessed the weddings of both twins, was there when they started families of their own and so on. When his nieces and nephews grew older they would visit him more and he would take them swimming or would take them to the beach. All this made him look forward for his workday to end. It was a feeling he hadn’t had in years, not since Makoto. 

However with the happy events also came sad events. Such a sad event was the dead of both his parents-in-law. His father-in-law had died in his sleep and his mother-in-law died not much later due to sadness. The sadness of losing her husband and the lingering sadness of losing her eldest son all those years ago.

As he grew older and saw everyone growing up, he had this feeling growing in him. A feeling like something was about to happen, something good and it made him feel at ease. 

Sousuke didn’t see Rin as much as he used to, seeing as he had moved back to Iwatobi while Rin had stayed in Tokyo. However, once in a while they managed to meet up and went for a drink. This had been such a night. A night drinking with Rin, talking about everyday things, reminiscing about the past, … 

Rin, who had come down to Iwatobi to meet, wasn’t in a state to go back to Tokyo that same night so, as they had done more often than not, he would stay the night with Sousuke so he could go back to Tokyo the next day. Being older meant that they couldn’t quite hold their liquor like they used to, so they would just stay over at each other’s place while waiting for the alcohol to leave their system and go back home the next day. 

That night when Sousuke had laid out the futon and Rin had gone to sleep he, too, went to bed. As every night, he would look at the empty side of the bed, knowing that if Makoto had been alive he would be laying there. And every day when he did this he would feel a sting of pain flow right through him. However, tonight it felt different. It felt like Makoto wasn’t all that far away. Instead Sousuke thought that he could almost feel Makoto’s presence. His lips tugging up in a small smile, he laughed at himself for thinking such a childish thing. And with that smile Sousuke fell asleep.

Sousuke woke up to find that the place next to him was empty. It was a sight that he had gotten used to seeing in the last years of his life, however, it never became any less painful. He made his way downstairs and expected to find Rin still fast asleep. However, Rin wasn’t there and the futon, too, was gone. Hearing noise coming from the kitchen, Sousuke made his way, albeit with a little surprise, towards the kitchen. 

Just before entering the kitchen, he started speaking, “Wow, Rin. I still expected you to be asleep and now you’re even making breakfast for me. To what do I owe the surpri –“ His sentence was cut off when he saw who was standing behind the stove. It wasn’t Rin who was standing there. It was Makoto.

“Rin?” Makoto asked. “Why would he be here, making you breakfast?”

Sousuke just dropped to his knees, one hand against the wall to have some kind of support.

Hearing a loud noise, Makoto looked up towards the door to see what had happened, only to see Sousuke on his knees. Worried, he made his way towards his husband and asked while kneeling down, “Sousuke, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”

Sousuke, ever so slowly, raised his hand and touched Makoto’s cheek. He could _touch_ Makoto. This wasn’t a dream. Realizing this, the tears just came rolling down. 

The first thing he did was pull Makoto in a hug so tight, you might think that there was a chance of suffocation. And while he cried he said, “I thought I’d lost you. You died. How are you here? How is this possible?”

Returning the hug, Makoto answered, “True, I died. But I never stopped thinking about you. All these years I’ve watched over you.”

“So how is this possible?”

“Sousuke, listen carefully, okay?” Makoto asked in a soft voice and waited until he felt Sousuke nod against his shoulder. “You died in your sleep last night.”

Sousuke, shocked, pulled back a little and looked at his husband. “Really?” he asked, not knowing what else to say.

“Yeah, really.” Makoto said with a small reassuring smile on his face.

After a few short moments, Sousuke pulled Makoto back into the hug. 

“I’ve missed you so much.” he said through his tears.

“I’ve missed you too. All these years I’ve kept an eye out for you, you know?” Makoto answered with a small laugh. “Now, what do you think about that present that I promised you?”

“I’d like that. But let me stay like this for just a little longer.”

“Of course, whatever you want. We got all the time in the world.” Makoto said in a soft, sweet and loving voice while drawing circles on Sousuke’s back.

And while Sousuke and Makoto where happy that they were reunited once again, Rin woke up the next day to find that Sousuke was still in bed. This was a little surprising, seeing that Sousuke always woke up before him, this had been the case ever since high school. Trying to wake him up and not succeeding, Rin got an anxious feeling in his chest. Checking Sousuke’s pulse, Rin noticed that he hadn’t one. Finally, Rin called the ambulance and watched as his best friend was being taken away.

And while Rin and the rest of Sousuke’s friends and family cried over his loss, Sousuke was smiling like never before and feeling happier than ever because he _finally_ got to be together again with his husband.


End file.
